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Apollo
Apollo is the god of art, music, light, archery, healing, prophecy, poetry, herds, flocks, the sun, history, dance and swords .Some of his sacred animals are wolves, dolphins, roe deer, swans, mice and griffins.(Hamilton 1998, p. 29) He is the son of Zeus and Leto, twin of Artemis, grandson of Cronus ( lord of time) and Rhea, nephew of Poseidon( god of the sea and rivers), Hades( god of the solid earth), Hera ( Zeuse's wife and sister) Hestia, and Demeter also great grandson of Gaia ( one of the first living things) .(Hamilton 1998, p. 29) In Myth Apollo was born on the island of Delos .(Hamilton 1998, p. 29) Apollo's oracle at Delphi plays an important role in Greek myth.(Hamilton 1998, p. 30)To win the oracle, he had to kill Python, a serpentine son of Gaia. It was a hard task, but Apollo managed to do it. Apollo's alternate names include: Phoebus bright Smintheus bearer or rat apollo Delian the place of his birth, [[Delos] Loxias tricky Pythian killing Python Lovers Cassandra- Cassandra was the daughter of Priam of Troy and his wife, Hecuba. The myths say that she was the most beautiful of all the kings children. To win her heart, Apollo started to teach her the art of prophecy. It worked. Or so Apollo thought. Instead of becoming his lover, Cassandra refused him. So Apollo cursed by saying that when she made a prophecy, nobody would believe her. Daphne- Daphne was the daughter of a river god. Before Apollo could get to her, he had to get rid of Leucippus son of king Oenomaus. Apollo had a fierce battle with him, and won. Now he could go to Daphne. But she refused. She tried running away, but Apollo was to swift. So Daphne, prayed to her father to turn her into a laurel tree. Her father swiftly did so. Apollo was heartbroken. So he made the laurel his sacred plant. Marpessa- Marpessa, the daughter of the river god Evenus and the grandaughter of Ares, caught Apollo's eye. Although Apollo was deeply in love, Marpessa was already engaged to Idas son of [[Poseidon]]. This didn't stop Apollo. He simply carried Marpessa off away from Idas. Devoted to his love, Idas pursued the god and challegened him to a fight. The two came to blows and Zeus had to intervene. Separating Apollo and Idas, he called Marpessa to the scene of battle. Then, Zeus asked Marpessa who she wanted to marry. Marpessa chose Idas, because "he too was mortal" and she was afraid that Apollo would desert her. Sinope- Sinope was yet another nympth that Apollo fell for. But he wasn't the only one. Zeus too, was in love with this poor young nymph. Sinope tried everything in her power to stop Apollo and Zeus from liking her. But nothing worked. Finaly, when Apollo asked her what she wanted the most, she said eternal virgintiy. See Also Apollo's equvelent in Roman mythology is Sol. * Twelve Olympians * Leto * Artemis * Delos * Delphi External Links Notes References * Hamilton, Edith (1998), Mythology, Back Bay Books, New York, ISBN 0-316-34151-7 Category:Greek gods